WRITTEN BYJesse Eisenberg
SCREENPLAY PROFILE
This page presents the A Real Pain (2024) screenplay, written by Jesse Eisenberg, as 129 navigable scenes across 101 pages. Search the text, isolate a character’s dialogue, or link directly to any scene.
As the credits roll, we very slowly zoom in on a young man sitting alone on a bench at a busy airport.
CUE: Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2
We get glimpses of the young man's face as morning travelers pass in front of him.
This is BENJI KAPLAN. He has an absent look on his face that borders on melancholy.
When we finally arrive in close-up, the title appears over his face: A REAL PAIN.
In a verdant Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, DAVID hustles down the street.
He is on his phone, leaving a message for someone.
Following David’s Uber from behind as it's stuck in traffic.
David is in the back seat, harried and leaving a series of messages:
ANOTHER MESSAGE:
AND ANOTHER:
David arrives at the airport, leaving another message as he heads toward a check-in kiosk—
He hangs up and approaches a kiosk and begins checking in—
Benji approaches from behind. He’s carrying a huge purple hiking backpack.
David steps back to be evaluated by Benji.
David laughs and does a cute little spin.
David prints his ticket and they begin walking to the gate.
From behind, we see the two cousins walking toward security—
As they pass a garbage, David subtly tosses out the yogurt.
On the security line, the boys place their bags on the conveyor belt.
David eyes Benji’s bag, nervously. Benji seems completely at ease -- he makes eyes with the cute TSA AGENT.
David clears security and watches from a distance as:
Benji charms the TSA agent. He's animated and funny.
David is in awe of his cousin’s charisma. Benji grabs his bag and hustles up to David.
David and Benji wait at the gate. David is eating trail mix. Benji eyes it:
Benji casually takes the bag and digs in.
David wants to bring something up but can't. Benji stares at him, something unspoken passing between them.
David takes out a pamphlet. Benji grabs it and hands Dave his trail mix.
Benji looks out the window, squinting into the sun.
CUE: Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 62 No. 2
The boys approach their seats. Benji’s still chomping on David’s trail mix.
A few minutes later, David is squished in the middle seat. Benji is in the window and somehow comfortably spread out.
In the front of the plane, the Polish flight attendant begins a safety demonstration—
David lowers his voice but keeps talking to Benji—
David is embarrassed. He looks on as Benji is completely engaged with the safety demo.
The flight attendant makes a little joke about seatbelts. Benji laughs heartily.
CUE: Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1
Later on the plane, David is awake and exhausted. He looks over to Benji who is slumped against the window, in a deep comfortable sleep.
Two small, empty bottles of wine sit on Benji's tray.
LATER
David is on his phone watching a video of his son.
David rewinds the video and rewatches it, missing his son.
LATER
David digs a bottle of prescription pills out of his bag. He has a few drops left in a water bottle and swallows one pill.
LATER
The plane lands. The lights come on. David hasn’t slept. He’s bleary eyed. Benji is sleeping with a pained expression on his face.
Benji stirs awake.
The boys walk through the airport, both exhausted from the flight.
Benji just shakes his head. He has a dark look in his eyes.
The boys walk through the “Nothing to Declare” side of customs.
David is silently panicking as he watches Benji’s bag go through a sensor. David makes nervous eye contact with the serious Polish TSA Agent.
Benji is unfazed as his bag emerges on the other side.
After they’ve cleared customs. Benji looks bleak.
Benji points to a Polish DRIVER holding a sign that says “Heritage Tours - KAPLAN.” Benji bounds over to him.
The boys are in the car, heading into town. Benji is staring out the window; David is staring at his phone, AirPods in his ears, watching the video of his son.
Benji elbows David. David takes out an AirPod.
Benji nods and turns back outside. After a moment:
David gives Benji one of his AirPods. They both watch the video together.
Benji scrolls back and plays it again. David is surprised.
He notices that Benji has tears in his eyes.
Benji looks back out the window.
They arrive at an upscale chain - the Warsaw Central Hotel.
They approach the front desk.
The receptionist hands over a shoddily wrapped little box. David is baffled as he receives the room keys--
David gathers the passports and keys and begins walking to the elevator, eyeing Benji's box:
The boys exit the elevator and begin walking toward their room.
Benji suddenly swings his arm around David’s neck, lovingly rough.
The boys enter their room, begin unloading their gear, taking off their layers—
David takes his socks off and sniffs. Benji notices:
Benji sits on the bed next to David.
David chokes up, to his surprise. He looks away, embarrassed.
David hands Benji his phone and Benji goes in the bathroom -
David lies on the bed, doesn’t know what to do with himself.
He hears Benji start playing music. Benji cycles through multiple songs to find a good one. David is frustrated.
Benji finally settles on The Uniques' "My Conversation.”
David is lying on the bed, still waiting for the shower.
He stares at his bare feet, evaluating them. We ZOOM in on David’s face, ZOOM in on his feet. Time seems to slow down.
Suddenly, Benji sticks his head out from the bathroom, blow- drying his hair and shouting over the noise.
The two guys walk down the hallway. Benji is freshly showered and relaxed. David is sweaty and exhausted.
The guys walk through the hotel lobby.
As they near the restaurant, they see JAMES, a young British tour guide, finishing a conversation with a hotel employee:
James leads the guys towards a corner of the restaurant:
They arrive at a table of four other tourists, who James addresses:
The group kind of nods toward the boys.
Some titters from the group.
Benji joins in laughing heartily, like he’s been there the whole time. David clocks him.
MARCIA, 60s, sharp and wry:
Benji appreciates her humor. David notices.
DIANE AND MARK BINDER, 60s.
Some chuckles.
Titters from the group. ELOGE speaks up. He is a 39-year- old Rwandan man.
A little titter from the group.
This is fucking music to Benji’s ears.
They turn to Benji.
There’s an awkward pause. David is mortified.
David can’t believe Benji gets away with this shit.
A little laughter from the group. Benji is charming them.
The group is stunned.
Everyone laughs as the tension breaks.
There is a nice pause.
David looks around — everyone’s nodding, seemingly okay with Benji’s vulgarity.
Everyone kind of chuckles and Benji puts his hand on David’s shoulders. David sinks in his chair a bit.
CUE: Chopin’s bombastic Etude Op. 10 No. 1
A flurry of buildings, streets, signs, daily life in this bustling city set to Chopin's racing Etude.
Greco-Roman heroes stare at us from the iconic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Monument. Close shots on the various faces of martyrdom. Benji and David look up at the faces.
James gathers the group near the foot of the monument:
The group nods sagely. Benji and David share a look.
CUE: Nocturne Op. 9 No. 3
The group walks along a street in front of a Soviet-era apartment block.
Through a window, we see Benji buying bottles of water in a little market kiosk.
He exits the kiosk and distributes the waters to the group. They are thankful.
As he arrives at David, he explains that he wasn't able to pay for the waters because he doesn't have any money. David sighs, hands him some Złotys and Benji bounds back in to pay.
The gang walks through this peaceful park.
Mark and Diane are asking James questions and Eloge is cross referencing what he sees with a little Polish guide book.
Marcia walks alone.
Benji and David lag behind. David is sweaty, exhausted; Benji is amped:
Benji’s runs off to check on Marcia.
David is left alone, a little miffed. He watches as:
Benji catches up to Marcia. They are speaking animatedly to each other and Marcia seems emotional.
David speeds up to join them but stutters when he hears:
David watches as Benji nods knowingly and puts his hand on Marcia’s shoulder.
Then Marcia reaches up and holds Benji’s hand. David is baffled.
Benji and Marcia walk like this for a bit. She clearly had some kind of catharsis and Benji is comforting her.
The group walks through the ruins of Warsaw, which abut the height of Central European modernity.
We see the mix of old and new, the bullet holes and the mid- century rebuild.
Benji precariously skips along stones, which jut out of a pond.
Jump back to reveal that the group is patiently waiting for him to finish his antics. No one seems to mind.
David exits a cafe with a tray of food. Feeling unsocial, he takes a seat alone.
After a moment, Benji comes out and spots David:
There’s an uncomfortable pause. They both slurp their soup.
CUE: Chopin's Waltz No. 1 Op. 18
From high, we see the group walk through this bohemian drag.
The group passes a fragment of the old Ghetto Wall.
The group approaches the dramatic Warsaw Uprising Monument-- massive bronze soldiers in battle positions.
On Benji and David, listening—
Back to James—
Mark and Diane approach James with questions. The rest take pictures.
Benji approaches Eloge.
Benji salutes and runs to the monument. He positions himself cutely among the huge bronze soldiers.
Eloge looks to David.
Eloge joins Benji under the monument.
Eloge laughs and kneels next to one of the bronze soldiers, “patching up his leg.”
David is taking pictures on both guys' phones.
Suddenly, Mark appears at the monument, posing next to Benji and Eloge.
David takes pictures. He enjoys seeing Benji so happy but is also looking over his shoulder for security.
Marcia gives her phone to David and heads up to the monument.
Marcia pretends to be a soldier, finding it funny and awkward.
David is now taking pictures with three people’s phones.
Diane brings her phone to David.
Diane runs up next to her husband. James approaches David with his phone.
James hands David his phone and joins the group. Now everyone is posing on the monument except David who has to take pictures with five cameras.
They all freeze as David takes a picture on each phone. It’s awkward for him as he has to put the phones in his pocket to make sure he gets a shot on each one.
David takes a shot with the last phone.
They all kind of laugh and walk off the monument.
They all laugh as Benji approaches David.
The group enters the hotel, the nice energy from the day lingering in the air. David feels a bit left out.
David and Benji ride up in the elevator with Eloge, Diane and Mark. It stops on Benji and David's floor.
They ad lib goodnights to Benji.
The boys walk down the hall towards the room.
David and Benji enter their room.
David squeezes into the cramped bathroom. Benji closes the door.
Benji exits the bathroom walks straight to the window and opens it. But it only opens a few inches.
David, freshly dressed and Benji, fat ass blunt in his ear, ride the elevator. There’s a fun spirit in the air.
The boys exit the elevator.
But Benji is already walking down the hallway.
At the end of the hallway is a door with a sign in Polish and an alarm.
David is backing away.
Benji walks with David and then, suddenly, turns back and runs toward the door, slamming it open—
But there’s no alarm. It’s quiet. David is relieved.
Benji looks at David with an electricity in his eyes.
The boys giggle as they race up the stairwell.
Benji opens the door to the roof —
The boys are at the edge of the roof, which overlooks Warsaw. It’s gorgeous.
Benji exhales a huge hit, passes it to David, who takes a hit. Passes it back.
David laughs - but the mood has shifted a bit sour. David looks at Benji as Benji exhales a huge puff.
The boys ride back down the elevator in silence.
The boys lie on their separate beds. They’re eating chips from the mini bar and Benji is nursing a little bottle of vodka.
The TV is playing the cheesy hotel menu on a loop. They stare at it, stoned and mesmerized.
Pause.
Benji takes a swig of vodka and becomes contemplative:
They eat their chips in silence.
David nods, touched.
CUE: Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 15 No. 1
David wakes up. He looks over to the other bed:
Benji is still sleeping. A few more mini vodka bottles lie around his head.
David is in the bathroom, whispering on FaceTime with Priya. She’s telling him a story about Abe and he’s laughing.
David is in the shower. Shaving.
David swallows one of his pills, drinking from the faucet.
David reenters the room, freshly showered. Benji is still sleeping. David stands over his cousin, looking at him.
In his sleep, Benji has a pained look on his face.
Benji groans.
Benji reluctantly trudging through the hall, following David.
The group is waiting outside for the boys.
Benji perks up when he sees everyone, his erratic charisma suddenly alighting.
The group walks through the train station. Benji takes it all in like a little kid.
The group approaches the train. James leads them to the front.
As they board the train, David looks happy, Benji looks skeptical.
Moving southeast through Central Poland’s Countryside.
The group rides in a sparsely filled first class car. They each have a nice breakfast meal on trays in front of them and are eating their food as they listen to James.
As James continues, Benji turns and whispers to David.
James notices Benji-
Benji can’t help himself. He addresses the group-
Pause--
The group takes this in. Benji nods, feeling validated.
Benji is reactivated!
Some titters from the group.
The group is mildly appalled.
Benji, deflated, walks away. David turns back and watches him go, mystified by his behavior.
Some laughter from the group -
David picks up Benji’s food tray and heads back.
David is walking through a more crowded part of the train, looking for Benji. He doesn’t see him.
David enters the next car. Halfway down, he sees Benji, sitting alone.
David sits next to him. It’s a quiet and sweet moment.
David undoes Benji's tray and sets his food down.
Benji digs into his food. David leans back, tired.
The train speeds past us in various locations.
Moving down the aisle, we find David fast asleep in his seat, Benji just watching him.
The train pulls into a station and David startles awake.
David grabs his bag and heads for the exit. Benji follows, looking guilty.
The boys emerge onto the platform and begin walking toward the exit. Behind them, the train pulls away.
David looks around the platform.
David looks around. He sees the large station sign says, “Krasnik.”
David begins walking toward the station exit. Benji hustles up—
David softens and turns back around.
MOMENTS LATER
The boys sprint around to the train on the opposing platform. A CONDUCTOR is near a car at the front.
The boys run down the platform to enter the back of the train. Benji nods to David like they’re preparing for a bank heist and they hop on.
The boys move through the train, heading towards the front.
They enter the next car—
The boys enter the next car. David is increasingly nervous. They see the conductor enter from the other side.
They approach the conductor:
The boys exit the car and catch their breath in the vestibule.
As the boys make their way through the cars, something loosens inside David. We move past Benji and closer on David as a nostalgic smile grows on his face.
The boys enter the front car and find seats. They plop down, ecstatic.
Benji looks around, thinks about it.
The train pulls into the Lublin Glowny Station. The boys walk along the platform, looking for the exit.
The boys emerge to find James and the group, in various stages of irritation.
The group ascends the massive staircase that leads to the castle.
The group walks along the gorgeous bridge to the gate. David approaches Eloge:
Up ahead, Marcia approaches Benji. David looks on--
They walk a little bit. They like each other’s company.
Marcia side-eyes David as Eloge approaches.
Eloge sidles up, David getting sidelined—
David can’t believe Benji is getting this reaction. He reinserts himself-
Benji walks on and his new minions, Eloge and Marcia.
David slows down, contemplating. They approach the central gate.
On David and Benji, passing through light patches of the dark tunnel—
The group passes through the tunnel, emerging into the light.
Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 plays over the following:
As he speaks, we see a montage of shots from around the city:
-An unremarkable grocery store with a plaque above the door
-A medical academy building, the site of a former Yeshiva
-Hebrew letters in relief on the side of a building
In a wide tableau, the group ambles along this uneven path at the edge of town. Benji throws his arm around David and pinches his cheek.
At the top of the hill is the Jewish cemetery, a rough patch of land with scattered tombstones.
The group naturally fans out, taking it all in. Eloge lingers around James--
As James and Eloge continue, Benji rolls his eyes at David.
David responds with a quizzical expression, like “What’s wrong?”
Benji claps one hand together and motions toward James, as if to say “James won’t shut the fuck up.”
David looks at Benji like, “Who the fuck cares?”
Benji responds with an expression like, “I fucking care.”
Benji starts heading over to James. David knows it’s not good.
Eloge looks down at the ground, embarrassed.
James is incredibly uncomfortable. He looks to David, who is mortified. After a pause, Benji releases the tension--
James, still rattled, calls the group over to Kopleman.
James and Benji exchange looks. Benji nods a little like, “you can continue.”
There’s a sweet pause—
The group begins looking for pebbles on the ground. David finds two and offers one to Benji.
Benji finds two stones. He approaches Marcia.
David notices their interaction. He feels irked by Benji.
David looks back to James and tries to apologize for Benji with his eyes. James waves him off, like, “Don’t worry about it.”
The group ends up forming a little line at Kopleman’s grave.
Mark and Diane place their stones down, followed by Eloge, James and David. It’s all very somber and sweet.
Marcia and Benji approach. Marcia places her stone down first.
David, Eloge and James watch as Benji jokes around with Marcia:
David shares looks with Eloge and James — they’re all pissed that Benji’s allowed to change the mood whenever it suits him.
As we pull back on the group on the hill, the sun is nearly setting and music comes up:
It’s piano but for the first time, it’s not Chopin.
In fact, it sounds like a moody version of Hava Nagila. It carries us into:
Establish a lively restaurant in old town Lublin.
A pianist plays the familiar Hava Nagila. We move off of the pianist to find our group sitting in this cozy, old style restaurant. They are through dinner, sipping drinks. The mood feels light, except Benji who is stewing.
The group ad libs- impressed with Marcia's story.
And the piano player finishes the song.
They all chuckle a bit.
They all laugh —
There’s a slight pause in the group as they’re thrown off by Benji’s crassness. David picks up the mood--
There’s a weird silence at the table because of his admission and because David is being implicated.
Benji nods to himself. David stares at Benji, guilty and also irritated.
David laughs a bit but then realizes what he just said. The group is silently alarmed as they realize the grandma was talking about Benji.
The group is feeling weird, David is insulted. Eloge helps:
The group ad libs in agreement.
They all lift their glasses.
They all take a sip except Benji who stands up and chugs his entire huge glass of beer.
The group looks on as Benji binges. It takes a long time and is awkward.
Benji walks away. There’s a heavy feeling at the table.
This lands with the group.
The group is stunned.
David takes a sip of his beer.
The group digests this bombshell but David feels a weight lifted.
Suddenly, they hear the pianist again. But this time, they’re playing a jazz riff.
They listen to the music for a second until Marcia peers past David to see:
David turns around and looks:
A very drunk Benji is sitting at the piano. He’s riffing on a jazz standard. It’s uncomplicated but deft and fun. He has heart and some innate talent.
David watches him.
David watches Benji play. Benji’s eyes are closed and he is in a zone. David doesn’t know how to take it but he’s moved.
The group watches Benji, a mixture of pity and awe.
Benji is still playing, now flanked by Marcia and Diane. We pan along the restaurant to find Dave sitting alone as the other guys chat amongst themselves.
David stands up and decides to leave.
David emerges from the restaurant, alone. He can faintly hear Benji's music from inside the restaurant.
65B As David begins walking back to the hotel, Benji's music65B becomes more insistent and grating, needling it's way into David's subconscious.
A bastardized version of Benji's music continues.
From inside the lobby, we see David enter the Lublin hotel.
David enters the room and the music in his head abruptly stops. He stands there in frustration for a minute.
He walks to his bag and fishes out one of his pills.
He dry swallows it. It gets caught in his throat and makes him choke a bit. He hits at his throat, pissed and miserable-
LATER
It’s dark. David is still alone in the room. He’s calling PRIYA on Facetime but she’s not picking up.
LATER
David is on the bed. He takes his socks off and scoots back on the bed.
He’s looking at his bare feet, thinking.
It's the middle of the night. David is sleeping.
He hears Benji enter the room and he stirs awake.
Not wanting to engage with Benji, David lies very still. He hears Benji rifle through some stuff and then leave the room.
David is confused. He sits up — Benji is gone.
David looks at the clock — it’s 2:40 AM.
David peeks his head out the room and looks down the empty hallway.
David is throwing on clothes, irritated.
David is walking through the hallway, looking for Benji.
David is talking to the front desk, who haven’t seen Benji.
David is stewing in his bed, pissed and worried about Benji.
David is sleeping, sitting up in bed. He had a rough night.
Suddenly, the room phone rings. He startles awake.
David, now dressed, rides the elevator down. He’s pissed.
David exits the elevator and walks to the lobby:
Benji is there, sitting with the group.
James approaches the group —
The group says good morning to James —
They exit the hotel, David warily eyeing his cousin.
The van drives on the outskirts of Lublin.
James is facing back to address the group.
David sits up front, Benji sits in the back.
As James continues, David looks back to Benji, who’s staring out the window.
David looks out the window and sees the massive concentration camp come into view—
The bus pulls in to the camp parking lot. It’s eerily sparse. Majdanek is essentially a preserved camp, unadorned with the museum style of other Holocaust sites.
The group files off the van.
The group takes this in.
The group walks towards the entrance and we get a full sense of the scope of this unnerving place.
Push past them to see the massive town just beyond the barbed wire.
The group walks toward the barracks.
Benji and David look around, cowed by the enormity of the place.
The group traverses the endless path along the identically unnerving barracks.
The following scenes play out simply. We might notice that Benji and David begin on opposite sides of the group but gradually and unconsciously draw closer together as the tour progresses.
The group approaches the exhibition barrack.
LATER
James reads a passage from a survivor.
The group stands in the bare windowless room.
The group enters this dank, low ceiling room.
LATER
James reads another harrowing personal recount.
The group inside this considerably darker room.
The group looks around silently, in various stages of nausea.
Benji unconsciously puts his hand on David’s shoulder.
The group looks at the crematorium, body sized ovens, completely preserved. James doesn’t say anything.
In this barrack, there are a display of discarded victims’ shoes.
Benji and David are now standing next to each other. They stare at the mound of shoes together. It’s overwhelming.
The group arrives at the enormous spaceship-like Mausoleum.
They stand under it, dwarfed by the structure. We see them from behind in a wide.
The group rides back to the hotel. They are all in various stages of shell-shock.
As we move down the van, we see David sitting next to Benji.
Benji is staring out the window and openly crying.
David is heartbroken.
The group walks towards the entrance.
The group enters the lobby.
The group gathers around James in the lobby.
No one wants to respond.
The group nods, understanding. James notices Eloge:
Marcia puts her hand on his shoulder.
Benji and David nod.
The group ad libs goodbyes to Benji and David. David watches as Marcia and Diane address Benji.
Benji taps Mark’s gut. Mark still hates him.
Marcia and Diane both say goodbye to David, but without any fanfare or emotion.
As they do, David can only focus on Eloge speaking to Benji:
James approaches Benji, this is hard for him to say:
Benji hugs James, who’s had his own private catharsis.
David watches them embrace:
With James' mop of hair buried in Benji's arms, it almost looks like Benji is hugging David.
CUE: Chopin Nocturne Op. 9, No. 3
The boys amble around Lublin. There’s a nice thawing between them.
They walk above the Czechówka River mural, a parallel black hole universe of the figures below.
At a makeshift bazaar, Benji tries on a funny Polish folk hat. David snaps a picture of it.
Benji explains that’s he’s gonna buy the hat. David says, “Why would you buy the hat? I just took the picture. Do you really need to own that hat?”
The boys eat greasy shawarma and trudge up the hill. The sun is setting behind them.
The boys walk under illuminated flowers and butterflies.
Benji jumps to try to swat a butterfly - he doesn't even come close as David laughs.
The boys are on the outskirts of town, surrounded by some taller buildings.
Benji nods over to the building as a SMOKER walks out and lights up a cigarette.
A SECURITY GUARD leans against a desk. Pan off him to see our smoker enter the building and, in tow, Benji and David, like idiots trying to act casual.
They nod at the security guard who couldn't care less and follow the smoker to the elevator bank.
Benji and David enter the elevator with the smoker and press the top floor.
They all wait in the elevator in an awkward silence. Benji looks like an idiot in his hat. The smoker casually starts a chat:
A quiet rooftop overlooking Lublin. We slowly pan to see a rusty, industrial door. We now push steadily toward the door, which begins jiggling. Suddenly, it pops open and the boys emerge-
At the edge of the roof, the guys pass a joint back and forth. Benji’s still in his Polish hat.
David nods and takes another hit. He notices something in the distance.
Now we see it too. Over the boys’ shoulders, in the distance, is the Majdanek concentration camp.
The guys, stoned, just stare at the camp from the perch above the city.
There’s a calm pause. David still has the joint.
Benji pauses, uncomfortable. He notices David has the joint.
Benji takes a long drag.
They smoke.
They settle. Benji stews, something not sitting right--
Benji can’t hold it in anymore - he turns to David:
Benji finally turns to him-
There’s a silence. It’s very tense. Benji is shocked by his David’s sudden surge of anger.
David calms down. He speaks quietly and with emotion:
Benji’s got tears in his eyes.
Benji nods, trying not to cry.
CUE: Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 55 No. 1
In slow motion, following the boys as they make their way back to their room.
The boys enter their hotel room silently.
LATER
David is lying on his bed, reading on his phone. Benji emerges from the bathroom, having showered.
The mood is bleak.
David grabs his shit and walks into the bathroom. The shower turns on.
LATER
The boys are asleep in their separate beds.
The next morning, David and Benji are packing up their stuff. They don’t speak to each other.
The boys silently eat their complimentary breakfast in the hotel dining area.
David’s phone buzzes. He checks it.
Through the window of the lobby, we see David and Benji load their bags into the trunk of an old, colorful taxi.
The taxi passes through the countryside, passing a little road marker for Krasnystaw.
The boys are in the back of the taxi on the way to their grandma’s town.
The taxi pulls up to the town square. It’s got a quiet mid- day feeling. Shops line the square along with simple, three story apartment buildings. The guys step out of the taxi and get their bags from the trunk.
The boys, holding their luggage, traverse the town square.
David leads Benji around the corner, passing the St. Francis Xavier Church, which has a massive wooden cross erected in the parking lot.
David directs them toward an alley.
They approach a little alley that looks like it hasn't changed in a hundred years.
David points to a little address above a door - 25.
They are trying to have a feeling about the place but it’s not coming.
David looks at his cousin and then plops his suitcase down.
Benji is touched. They put their bags down and look for a stone on the ground.
The boys approach the apartment and put their stones on the front stoop, in front of the door.
They step back and look at what they’ve done. There’s a nice feeling.
After a moment, they hear an older man calling out at them in Polish.
The boys look back: on the balcony across the alley, the OLDER MAN is berating them in Polish.
David tries to reason with him.
The man gestures for them to wait and walks into his apartment.
After a moment, the man emerges with his 20-year-old SON. He points at the boys and then talks to his son in Polish. The son nods.
Pause.
The son explains all of this to the father in Polish. Benji and David watch as the father talks for a long time to the son. The son finally nods.
David and Benji nod, a weird feeling of resignation. They calmly walk to the stoop and remove the rocks. Not knowing what to do with it, David puts it in his pocket.
Benji puts his rock in his pocket too.
It’s bittersweet.
CUE: Chopin Op. 15 No. 2
The boys walk through the town square with their bags.
They exit frame and the town continues on without them...
The boys in a taxi on their way back to Warsaw Airport.
We see the sign for Warsaw Chopin Airport.
The taxi turns off the exit.
The boys walk through the airport. They are not speaking but seem comfortable in each other’s presence.
The boys are awake on the plane. Each lost in his own thoughts.
The boys exit the gate with the other passengers.
They walk through the airport.
The boys are near the exit of the airport.
Benji laughs.
Benji looks around, considering.
Benji thinks about it.
David looks at his cousin in the eyes... And then slaps him right in the face.
Benji rubs the side of his face.
David is overwhelmed. It’s just what he needed to hear.
Benji pulls David into a hug. And whispers in his ear.
Benji pulls back and nods. David can’t take it.
David brings Benji in for another hug. David has tears in his eyes but he holds it together.
CUE: Chopin’s Etude Op. 25 No. 1
David is in a cab going back home. He is looking out the window.
David passes LeFrak City and the massive Machpelah cemetery.
All this Jewish history right next door- upward mobility and death, the cycle. David takes it all in, a part of it all.
David walks down his street, towards his apartment.
He stops in front of his building, takes out the stone and places it on his stoop.
David enters his apartment and drops his bags. He calls out to his family that he has come home.
Priya and Abe run in and embrace him.
He lifts his son into the air.
He kisses his wife.
His life seems so nice.
Back at the airport, in a repeat of our opening shot, we are slowly zooming in on a crowd of travelers as the music rises.
As we zoom in, we notice that Benji is sitting alone on the airport bench where we first met him.
He’s looking around, watching the strangers go by.
Anyone can be a friend.
We zoom closer and closer until his sweet face fills the frame.
The title reappears over his face: A REAL PAIN. *